Halloween Cupcakes

I wanted to post these sooner so y'all could get some ideas to decorate Halloween cupcakes but I wanted this to be my submission for Rach's Baking Challenge which is due today. But don't worry because there's still time and these are simple. Are the kiddos having friends over tonight for a Halloween sleepover? Hand them some naked cupcakes and a couple bowls or tubs of frosting and decorate some spooky cupcakes!

I decorated these cupcakes at my local bakeshop. They had a cupcake decorating class and the theme was...you guessed it- Halloween! I had more fun at this class than I expected and I met a really sweet girl who was sitting at my table. Her name was Lindsay (Hi Lindsay!) and we had a great time eating and decorating cupcakes and laughing together.

These were really simple to make and the instructor was helpful and took her time showing us how to decorate each cupcake. I'll show you the pics of them individually then tell you which tips to use so you can recreate your favorite ones. There is no recipe today because I didn't think the cupcakes they provided were really that great. You can use a box mix or your favorite cupcake recipe. As for the icing you can use my favorite vanilla cream cheese frosting recipe or your favorite buttercream.

A couple helpful hint before we start. When filling your piping bag with frosting, fill no more than 2/3 full. Twist the bag to secure it shut. To aid in piping your cupcakes, put the frosting bag into the hand you write with. Let the twisted neck of the piping bag rest in the nook between your thumb and forefinger. As you pipe, use your fingers to press the frosting out of the bag. Use your opposite hand to provide stability and to help guide the tip.

Are you ready? Here we go!

Ridge Swirl- This cupcake is piped with Wilton Star tip #21. With your tip about 1/4-inch above the cupcake, start piping on the outside and pipe a swirl towards the center. Top with sprinkles.

Soft Swirl- This cupcakes was piped with Wilton round tip #12. With your tip about 1/4-inch above the cupcake, start piping on the outside and working your way towards the center. Top with bat and ghost confetti.

Eyeball- Also using Wilton tip #12, pipe on a swirl of frosting as in the above cupcake, then smooth. Or simply plop some frosting onto a cupcake and smooth with an offset spatula. Using a Wilton tip #2 or 3, starting from the inside and working towards the outside, squeeze squiggly lines to resemble veins. Top with rounds of fondant for the iris and pupil.

NOTE: You could also use prepackaged writing gel for the red veins and taffy or soft chewy candy (Starburst, tootsie rolls etc.) for the colored part.

Pumpkin- using Wilton round tip #10, pipe a circle along the exterior of the cupcake. Fill in the center working from the top and going down to the bottom. Top off the pumpkin with leaves using Wilton leaf tip #352 or #67. Use Wilton round tip #2 for the tendrils.

Jack-O-Lantern- With this one you want to pipe the face details first, then fill around it. Using Wilton round tip #2 pipe the outline (black) of your desired face. Then fill in the face details with Wilton round tip #3 or 4 (yellow). Using the Wilton star tip #16, pipe the stars around the face details until the cupcake is entirely covered. For better detail go back over the outline with more black icing.

NOTE: When piping stars, you want to place the tip on the cupcake, squeeze gently as you lift it slightly off the cupcake, then stop squeezing before you lift it off completely.

Smooth Jack or Ghost- You can do this one what ever color you want. Smooth icing over a cupcake. Pipe the black details of the face with Wilton round tip #2 or 3, fill in the details with Wilton round tip #3 or 4.

Moon & Witch- Spread out some yellow icing onto your cupcake and smooth with an offset spatula or a butter knife. To make the with on her broom, use a cookie cutter to cut out some chocolate fondant. You can also use some rolled out tootsie roll. Dust with cornstarch to keep from sticking.

Mummy- Using Wilton round tip #4, pipe some eyes. Make them as small or as large as you want. For larger eyes you want to squeeze the frosting and hold it in place as the blob grows :-) Using Wilton round tip #2, pipe the pupils. Using Wilton basket weave tip #47, pipe random lines all over the cupcake til it's completely covered and the eyes are still exposed.

NOTE: The basket weave tip has two sides- a smooth side and a ridged side. When piping the mummy hold the piping bag with the ridged side down so when you pipe, the smooth side is up.

Also, you want to pipe your mummies on a dark background, in other words, chocolate cupcakes work best for this so the eyes show up better.

Spider & Web- Spread icing onto cupcake and smooth it with an offset spatula or a butter knife. Using Wilton round tip #2, pipe 4 concentric circles onto the cupcake. Using a toothpick start from the center of the cupcake and pull outwards. Work your way around the cupcake until the web is formed. Top with a spider or pipe one yourself. To pipe the spider, make 8 little legs using Wilton round tip #2. Then pipe 2 round mounds (one slightly larger than the other for the body) using the same tip. Use sprinkles for the eyes.

Hairy Monster- Using Wilton grass tip #233, pipe the fur. With this one you want to hold the tip directly on the cupcake and squeeze as you're lifting the tip up. It can be as random as you want- messy is fine. Using Wilton round tip #4, pipe eyes, tip #2 or 3 for the pupils and nose and crooked mouth.

Star Tip Monster- Pipe stars using Wilton star tip #21. Start with the tip on the cupcake then pull up as you're squeezing. You want all the lengths to be different lengths- the more random the better. Pipe eyes using Wilton round tip #4 for the eyes and round tip #2 for the pupils, nose and mouth.

Open Mouth Monster- With this one you want to cover half the cupcake with black frosting. Smooth it the best you can with an offset spatula. Using Wilton round tip #5 pipe a half circle around the bottom of the cupcake and around the mouth. Then pipe lines back and forth to fill in the top half of the cupcake. Pipe eyes with Wilton round tips# 4 (yellow) and tip #2 for the pupils and eye brows. Using Wilton round tip #3 pipe some teeth. You want to squeeze as you're pulling away from the cupcake for jagged teeth.

Happy Halloween! Have a safe weekend!